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Your Choices Matter
Overview This section focuses on the one aspect of Video Games that will give it the edge over other forms of storytelling once the medium has completely caught up. Body You are PART of the Story There's something a player will always notice when going through the story of Call of Duty Black Ops Series is that due to its first person perspective, every character that's interacted with interacts with you. Despite taking control of a character with their own personality and voice, all may contrast with your own, it is you. You that pulls the trigger, you that saves the Princess, you that makes a sculpture of genitalia out of wood that you got from trees that you punched to death. Something that Video Games have always had and the thing that makes them stand out above movies and film in terms of storytelling is their interactivity, hence why the textbook classifies them only as Interactive Media. However, classifying them as only one form undermines what makes them so effective at visual storytelling. The ability Video Games have to follow important parts of Visual Media's Media Grammar allows it to be on almost equal footing, while the Media Grammar of Interactive Media allows it to surpass them. You Decide how the Story Proceeds Before diving into how there are many games that contain a story that are tailored to the choices you make, a la Mass Effect or Telltale, there must first be mention of just optional objectives available to the player. In film, television, or even literature, when a side quest exists, the main character either does or doesn't accept doing something that isn't absolutely necessary to the main plot, but whether or not they do it, is never up to the audience. In Video Games, it is ALWAYS up to the player. You decide whether or not someone stops hunting the man who killed your mother to help an old man rebuild his homestead and as a result, decide how the story is paced and how it proceeds. Even when it isn't something that directly influences the plot like other games, Video Games can still offer more choice than visual and printed media. Then there are games that specifically tailor the main plot to the choices of the players. Telltale built a name for itself with games like The Walking Dead and Batman: The Telltale Series where the games are entirely dependant on what choices the player makes. Infact, the games are essentially films with the only interactivity being what choice the character makes next. However, these choices have great ripple effects throughout the story, affecting how the characters react to each other, the tragedies that may befall them, and the resolution they deserve. Doing so presents players and audiences with a story that feels greatly personal to them and feel an emotional tie to the story, something that most film or television shows could only dream of having. Of course, this can greatly work as a detriment. Mass Effect 3 was an infamous example of how important choice was for quite some time had what was considered among many to be one of the most disappointing endings in Video Games. One of the cited reasons? The ending made it feel as though the choices the player made didn't actually matter in the grand scheme of the story. Of course, messing with the choices of the players can work in service of the story. The Presence of Player Choice With the presence of choice, Video Games can tell stories that would not have been possible or nearly had the same impact had they been any other form of media. The entire Bioshock series runs with this fact, telling stories not just about choice, but the choices YOU as a player have made, revealing twists and turns that would not have been as effective if you were not in the protagonists shoes. Then there's games like Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, which rob players of the freedom of choice in a moment where it seems to matter most, allowing the player to feel the helplessness the characters would in a way that truly resonates with them. Pages Relevant to this Section * The Evolution of Assassin's Creed * The Choices of Bioshock * Cinematic Evolution of the Call of Duty: Black Ops Series * The Choices of Telltale Unlock the Next Section UNLOCKED >>'The Conclusion'<< Category:Main Bodies